A Raft of Oceangoing Activities for the Youthful Summer Blahs

When the kids complain that there is nothing to do this summer, you can send them to sea.

Whether your children are 4 or 14, you can find dozens of ocean-related activities--from fishing to sailing--to cure the summer blahs.

For $10 each, you can sign them up for membership in a children-only yacht club, for $15 you can send them fishing, and for $225 you can let them cruise for a week aboard a 68-foot sailing ship.

No matter what your children’s ages, you can find a nautical diversion to fit their interests--and your budget.

Adults are not allowed in the Balboa Island Yacht Club, which is open to children ages 4 to 16. “It is a fabulous program because it is run by the children for the children,” says Suzie Twitchell, whose 11-year-old daughter, Julie, is a club member. “The older children actually teach the younger children.”

This unusual yacht club for kids only was founded in 1922 by the late Joseph and Carroll Beek, pioneers in the Newport Harbor area. BIYC members, who number about 300, meet at the Beek family pier, between Turquoise and Topaz streets on Balboa Island, to take part in aquatic games and sports, including sailing.

It costs $10 to join the club; activities, which begin June 26, take place from 9 a.m. to noon, Mondays through Wednesdays.

An organizational meeting will be held at 6:30 p.m. June 23 at the Carroll Beek Community Center, 115 Agate St., Balboa Island. For information call (714) 673-1070.

Children can go fishing, surfing, sailing, skin-diving and canoeing in a series of summer programs offered by the Dana Point Harbor Youth and Group Facility.

More than 20 programs ranging from day camps and aquatic workshops to sailing classes are available to children ages 6 and up.

Most programs begin in mid-June. Fees vary depending upon the program. For example, a basic sailing class for 11-year-olds costs $40 for five days of instruction. A weeklong beginning surfing class for children ages 10 and up costs $57.50. A day camp, including swimming, canoeing, fishing and boogie-boarding, runs about $100 for a week’s worth of daylong activities for 6- to 9-year-olds.

Or you can send your child fishing for $15 for a half-day excursion. Novices are welcome, according to facility spokesperson Alicia Raish, who has vivid memories of two beginning anglers. “One summer, one of our day camps went on a fishing trip and when they got back we were looking for these two kids. We couldn’t find them anywhere. Finally we looked in the bathroom and there they were. One child had a fish at the hair-dryer and the other one had a fish in the sink. I said, ‘What are you doing?’ ‘We’re cleaning our fish,’ they said.”

For information on programs offered by the Dana Point Harbor Youth and Group Facility, call (714) 661-7122. The facility, which opened in 1985 in Dana Point Harbor, is county-run and designed to promote boating, sailing and water safety.

Just down the road in Dana Point Harbor, the Orange County Marine Institute is also offering a series of ocean-related children’s programs, including a junior sea camp, an evening of grunion hunting and a family fishing trip.

The junior sea camp program begins June 26 and continues each week through Aug. 25. Camp hours are 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. Cost is $70--including a T-shirt. The program is open to 6, 7 and 8-year-olds.

From 9 p.m. to midnight on July 20, families can take part in the institute’s grunion run. Cost is $16 for adults and $8 for children. And a family fishing trip is planned Aug. 5. Cost is $20 for adults and $10 for children.

Other institute programs include “Ocean for Preschoolers,” “Sea Adventure Camp” and “Wind and Ocean Camp.” For a complete list of programs, call (714) 496-2274.

More than 2,000 children are expected to take part in the summer boating programs at the Orange County Sea Scout Base at 1931 W. Pacific Coast Highway in Newport Beach.

About a dozen programs from basic sailing to fishing will be offered beginning June 19. Most programs are open only to Boy Scouts, according to Mickey Hunter, director. “But we do take members from other youth groups.”

One of the most unusual programs offered by the Sea Scouts is a weeklong cruise aboard the Scout-owned, 68-foot-tall ship, the Argus. “It is really a sail-training cruise,” Hunter says. “They learn how to handle the sails and steer the boat.”

Cost for the Argus cruise is $225 per person. “That includes everything,” Hunter says. “It is the cheapest cruise around.”

For more information on the Sea Scout programs, call (714) 642-5031.

Children’s sailing is a summer tradition in Newport Harbor and you don’t have to live near the water--or even own a boat--to join in the fun. Just sign up for a sailing class.

Summer classes for kids are offered by both the Newport Beach Parks, Beaches and Recreation Department and by UC Irvine.

Recreation Department classes are open to children ages 9 and up and include lessons in Sabots and Lido 14s. If you are 12 or older, you can also learn to sail a catamaran or a 26-foot monohull. Fees begin at $31.50 for Sabot lessons and run up to $70 for instruction in larger boats. Classes begin June 19. For information, call (714) 644-3151.

At UC Irvine, sailing classes are offered in Lido 14s to children ages 10 and older. Classes begin July 10 and run through Aug. 11. Each session runs for one week and costs $45. Sign-ups are at the UCI Campus Recreation Office, 1368 Crawford Hall. Sailing classes are held in Newport Harbor. For more information, call (714) 856-5346.

Private and semi-private sailing lessons are also available through UCI. Private lessons are $25 per person per hour. Semi-private lessons cost $18 per person per hour.

If you prefer rowing and kayaking, the Newport Aquatics Center will offer a series of junior programs for 12- to 18-year-olds. Classes meet five days a week, Monday through Friday, for two weeks and cost $15. Boats are provided.

The first session gets under way June 19 at the center, which is at 1 White Cliffs Drive, Newport Beach. The two-week classes continue through Sept. 1.

For more information, call (714) 646-7725.

Sea Safety--Two identical daylong seminars on “Safety at Sea,” patterned after similar U.S. Naval Academy programs, will be held June 17 and 18 at the Orange Coast College Sailing Center, 1801 W. Pacific Coast Highway, Newport Beach.

The seminars are sponsored by the college in conjunction with West Marine Products Inc. Both seminars will be held from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Cost is $37, including lunch.

Topics to be covered include man-overboard prevention and recovery; life-craft outfitting and deployment; hypothermia prevention and recovery; emergency navigation, and firefighting. In addition, both seminars will cover the skipper’s role during emergency rescue operations and will explain what happens when a Mayday call is received by the Coast Guard. Moderator for the seminars is Hal Sutphen, retired Navy captain, and former director of sailing at the U.S. Naval Academy. For more information, call (714) 432-5880.

Shearlean Duke is a regular contributor to Orange County Life. On the Waterfront appears each Saturday, covering boating life styles as well as ocean-related activities along the county’s 42-mile coastline. Send information about boating-related events to: On the Waterfront, Orange County Life, The Times, 1375 Sunflower Ave., Costa Mesa, Calif. 92626. Deadline is two weeks before publication. Story ideas are also welcome.